Theophanes, Cedrenus, Glycas, Paul the Deacon, Nicephorus Callistus, and other late historians agree in making Constantine the founder of the first Church dedicated to the Second Person of the Trinity as the Divine Wisdom; and Cedrenus even gives a name—Euphrates—to the architect.[22] Codinus, who wrote in the fifteenth century, alone relates that Constantine purified a previously existing temple and dedicated it to Christian uses.
There is much evidence to show that the church could not have been completed by Constantine even if he had founded it, or contemplated its foundation. In the life of the emperor, the Church of the Holy Apostles, which was built near the Forum of Constantine, and in which the emperor was buried, is described at length,[23] but it does not mention S. Sophia, although the author takes pains to enumerate the Christian objects in the city—saying that there were “many Oratories and Martyria, and by the fountains in the middle of the agorae were figures in gilt bronze of the Good Shepherd and of Daniel with the lions; in the palace was a cross wrought in gold with many coloured precious stones.”[24]
In the fifth century Notitia, as we have seen, S. Irene is called the Old Church and S. Sophia the Great Church.
The historian Socrates, probably the best authority, says that Constantine “built two churches, one he called Irene and the other the Apostles,”[25] and he attributes S. Sophia entirely to Constantius. “The King built the great church which is called Sophia and joined it to that called Irene, which the father of the king had previously increased and beautified, and now both churches were included within one wall and had one title.”
Upon its completion, it was dedicated, with magnificent ceremony, by the patriarch Eudoxius on Sunday, February 15th, 360 A.D., “in the thirty-fourth year after its foundation.”[26] This would fix its foundation in the year 326 A.D., two years after Constantine, having defeated Licinius, had begun to reign alone. Cedrenus writes, “Eudoxius consecrated a second time the Church of the Divine Wisdom, because after its first completion, and the dedication by Eusebius, it had fallen and been again restored by Constantius,”[27] and he places this event in the twenty-second year of Constantius’ reign.
Cedrenus is a late and credulous writer, and in attributing a first dedication to Eusebius—who would certainly have told us himself—he shows how untrustworthy is the whole story. Altogether we cannot do better than accept the account of Idatius and that given in the Paschal Chronicle, with perhaps a little suspicion on the part which refers to Constantine, “In this year (360) in the month Peritius was dedicated the great church of Constantinople, in the thirty-fourth year from the time when Constantine had laid the foundations. For the opening ceremony (encaenia) Constantius brought many offerings of gold, and great treasure of silver; many tissues adorned with gold thread and stones for the sanctuary; for the doors of the church different curtains (amphithuriai) of gold; and for the outside gateways (puleones) many others with gold threads.” According to the late Anonymous author (see page [129]), “in the reign of Theodosius the Great († 395) and in the patriarchate of Nectarius (381-398), seventy-four years after the church was built, the roof of the church was destroyed by fire;” he probably really meant the fire of 404 in Arcadius’ reign. At that time S. John Chrysostom, incurring the dislike of the Empress Eudoxia, was banished. He was brought back at the end of two days, once more preached in S. Sophia, and was exiled again, with disastrous results, for his partisans set fire to the church and destroyed it. “This happened on the 20th of June, in the consulship of Honorius and Aristaenetus” (404).[28]
The fire was by some thought to be of supernatural origin. Palladius, the bishop’s biographer, writes, “Then a flame seemed to burst from the centre of the throne in which he used to sit, and climbed up by the chains [of lamps] to the roof ... and crept like a wriggling snake upon the back of the houses of the church.” There was also burnt the Senate, “lying many paces to the south opposite the church; and the fire spared only the little house, in which the sacred vessels were kept.”
The church was again injured by fire, restored by Theodosius II., and rededicated in 415.[29] Fresh relics were required for this rededication.[30] One fact of importance in regard to this church is related by Sozomenus of the Empress Pulcheria. “She dedicated an altar in the church of Constantinople, a most wonderful work of gold and precious stones, on behalf of her virginity and her brothers’ empire. And she wrote this on the face of the table so that it might be clear to all.”[31]
From this time until the outbreak known as the Nika sedition, in January 532, the church is not said to have been further altered. According to Cedrenus, the records and charters perished with the church.
There cannot be a doubt that the present S. Sophia occupies the site of the first church. A church once made holy by dedication and the reception of relics could not be transported. Indeed it is possible that it may occupy the site of one of the Greek temples, for there was a constant tendency to this supersession on one sacred site; and the present church stands on the very crest of the old Acropolis. If there were any sufficient reason to identify the site with that of the altar of Pallas, the dedication of the church itself would evidently be one of the many instances of a transference of title from the old worship. The Parthenon—where Hellenic rites survived to the sixth century—became a church in this way dedicated to the Holy Wisdom.[32] The axis of the church seems to point somewhere between 30° and 35° south of east, where there is a considerable sea prospect and a low horizon. This direction, either by accident or intention, must agree very closely with sunrise at the winter solstice:[33] the latitude of the church being 41° 0′ 26″. The plan will show that the ancient Hippodrome, and probably the other buildings, were set out in relation to this axis.